Guinness World Records Limited - Guinness world records, 2013: discover a world of new records

Tallest mohican

Kazuhiro Watanabe (Japan) boasts a truly hair-raising pompadour, in the shape of a 113.5-cm-tall (44.6-in) mohican. The height was verified at the Bloc de lart hair salon in Tokyo, Japan, on 28 October 2011. It took a team of hair stylists four hours to sculpt Kazuhiros gravity-defying coiffure.

CONTENTS

s

INTRODUCTION

A GIANT PAYS A VISIT EGG-SPENSIVE TREAT

EDITORS LETTER

A big thank you to everyone whos helped to make Guinness World Records a superlative success over the past year

In the last 12 months, weve received 7,896 record applications from the UK and Ireland. Of these, just 261 made it through our rigorous ratification process, ranging from the largest sticky toffee pudding (334 kg; 736 lb 5 oz) in Lancashire and longest cucumber (107 cm; 42.1 in) in Gwent to the oldest living female twins (103-year-olds) in Aberdeenshire and the largest human beatbox ensemble (2,081), from Dublin, Ireland.

Globally, GWR records managers processed around 50,000 applications over the past year, and the British Isles contribution to record-breaking places it second in the world, just behind the (rather larger) USA. So thank you to everyone whos made a claim keep them coming!

One of the most exciting and gratifying aspects of working with this extraordinary organization is that there is no let-up in the enthusiasm for record-breaking. This year I am marking a decade with Guinness World Records, and I can say with authority that inspiring accomplishments continue to flood in, pushing the boundaries of whats humanly possible.

A newspaper journalist once asked me why we bother to continue monitoring record- breaking, given that every record worth breaking has been broken. Well, ask that question to the likes of film-maker/explorer James Cameron (Canada), who, at the time of writing, has just made the first solo dive to the deepest point in the ocean, or the crew of the Tranor PlanetSolar, the first ship to circumnavigate the globe on solar power, or 12-year-old Tom Schaar (USA), who managed to pull off the first 1080 on a skateboard a trick that has defied even the most experienced skaters.

Its been 100 years since Roald Amundsen (Norway) made the first visit to the South Pole, but the desire for exploration and discovery is as healthy as it has always been, as our Adventure chapter proves. There, youll find a timeline of pioneering, plus an awe-inspiring collection of the recent records from explorers and globetrotters who personify the spirit of adventure and continue to widen our horizons.

Inspired by this question of the limits of record-breaking, weve included a feature at the start of each chapter that explores the absolutes of human accomplishment. The questions are simple How fast can an athlete run? How tall can we build? How long can we live? but the answers are less straightforward.

And talking of the limits of human abilities, weve all been gripped by Olympic fever here at GWR. London is the home of Guinness World Records, of course, so we were particularly excited to see the city host the event for a third time the most times to host the Olympic Games. For the first time ever, weve issued a digital update to our sports chapter that collates every new world record set at the Olympics. If youre a sports fan who enjoys the quirkier side of life, and youve not yet downloaded our Wacky Sporting Champions ebook, visit www.guinnessworldrecords.com/sport and take a look at our sideways glance at sporting superlatives. Breaking the record for the 100-m dash is one thing, but how fast would Usain Bolt be in a pair of high heels? Or apair of swim fins?

In addition to the hundreds of claims we deal with on a daily basis, we acquire thousands of new and updated records from a team of consultants and advisers. We are particularly indebted this year to our science consultant David Hawksett for his contribution to our Green Earth chapter. This ecological theme looks at the good, the bad and the ugly aspects of our treatment of the planet and takes as balanced a view as possible, based on our current understanding of this potentially controversial topic.

We also welcome aboard some new consultants for this years book, including railway expert Martyn Chapman, science journalist Paul Parsons, and Rob Cave, whose enthusiasm for pop culture was invaluable for features on comics and graphic novels and video games

Thanks, too, to Dan Barrett, GWRs online Community Manager, for his indispensable help with the new social media feature www.guinnessworldrecords. com/seeit3d.

The book is bursting with the usual array of spectacularoriginal photographs that youll not find anywhere else. Picture Editor Michael Whitty has been touring the globe with his team to bring you the best in new photography. Among his favourite record-holders this year are Abbie Girl (longest wave surfed by a dog), the giant Westech truck (largest mining truck) and Darlene Flynn (largest collection of shoes). Look out for Michaels behind-the-scenes accounts in the Snap Shot features included alongside some of the photos.

As ever, theres so much more to introduce: our Star Wars feature celebrates the 30th anniversary of Return of the Jedi (USA, 1983), a snapshot of the global economy marks another year of recession and austerity, and to take your mind off the economic gloom, a fun exploration of the weirder side of record-breaking with consultant Dr Karl Shukers mysterious world which encompasses spontaneous human combustion, the Loch Ness Monster and a vast collection of haunted dolls!

I hope youll agree that the records in this years book are more exciting, more inspiring and more spectacular than ever. Of course, if you you can do better, then please do get in touch. There are plenty of ways to get your name in the pages of the worlds best-selling copyright book and, with your help, the next 10 years of record- breaking will be as fruitful as the last

Craig Glenday, Editor-in-Chief
Follow me at twitter.com/craigglenday

Vertical visitor:

Being the tallest man alive, Sultan Ksen (Turkey) makes friends wherever he goes. Here he is visiting a school in the UK in March 2012, reassuring the students that its good to be different. See how tall Sultan is and discover how the nations of the world size up against each other.

Botafogo-a-go-go:

Artem Chigvintsev (Russia, below with TV star Kara Tointon) performed the most botafogo dance steps in 30 seconds on the set of Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two at BBC Television Centre in London, on 25 November 2011.

Chocoholics beware

GWRs Jacqui Fitt measures the most expensive non-jewelled chocolate egg, filled with couture chocolate and truffles and boasting edible gold leaf. It sold for 7,000 ($11,107) at a charity auction held on 20 March 2012 as part of World Record London, a series of record attempts organized by London & Partners (UK) in the run- up to the 2012 Olympics.